Five years after Blue Bell Creameries was linked to a deadly Listeria outbreak, the company pleaded guilty in federal court in Austin, Texas to distributing contaminated products and agreed to pay $19 million in fines. In a related case, Paul Kruse, the company’s former president was charged with seven felony counts including conspiracy to cover up the company’s unlawful action.
In a plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the Brenham Texas-based company agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products and pay $17.25 million in criminal fines and forfeiture. The company also agreed to pay an additional $2.1 million to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations that its ice cream products were manufactured under insanitary conditions and sold to federal facilities. The $19.35 million total is the second-largest amount ever paid in resolution of a food-safety matter.
The conspiracy and wire fraud charges against Kruse stem from his alleged efforts to conceal from customers what the company knew about the Listeria contamination.
Listeria monocytogenes a dangerous pathogen that can lead to serious illness or death. Among pregnant women, Listeria can cause premature delivery of an infected newborn, miscarriage and stillbirth. Unlike other foodborne pathogens, Listeria thrives in cool damp environments.
What Led to Blue Bell Listeria Outbreak?
According to the plea agreement, in February 2015, Texas state officials notified Blue Bell that two ice cream products from the company’s Brenham, Texas factory had tested positive for Listeria. Instead of issuing a recall or notifying customers of the risk, Blue Bell just directed its delivery drivers to remove any remaining stock of the two products from store shelves.
Two weeks later, health officials informed the company that a third product had tested positive. Again, Blue Bell did not issue a recall.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Kruse is alleged to have specifically directed other Blue Bell employees to remove potentially contaminated products from store freezers without notifying retailers or consumers about the real reason for the withdrawal. He is also is alleged to have directed employees to lie if asked by customers why products were removed and say that there had been an unspecified issue with a manufacturing machine instead of a positive test for Listeria.
In March 2015, genetic tests conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had linked the strain of Listeria found in one of the Blue Bell ice cream products to a strain that had sickened five patients at a Kansas hospital. The company issued a recall on March 13, 2015. Ten days later, after further tests revealed the product was made at a Blue Bell facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, another recall was announced.
According to the plea agreement, FDA inspections in March and April 2015 revealed food safety issues at both the Brenham and Broken Arrow facilities. Blue Bell temporarily closed all of its plants in late April 2015 for cleaning and maintenance.
Pritzker Hageman Represented Outbreak Victims
Pritzker Hageman represented clients sickened by Blue Bell’s contaminated products and filed the first Blue Bell Listeria lawsuit stemming from the outbreak. In that case, our client a 33-year-old Maryland man, developed Listeria meningitis and suffered permanent neurological impairment.
“Refrigerated, ready-to-eat food producers like Blue Bell Creameries have an absolute obligation under federal law to produce and sell food products that are free of this pathogen,” Food Safety Attorney Fred Pritzker said at the time. “There is a ‘zero-tolerance’ for these pathogens in food products precisely because they are so dangerous.”